Struggling NorthStar charter in Orlando is closing

NorthStar High School in Orlando will close at the end of the school year, a move Orange County school administrators recommended because of declining student achievement.

The charter school's principal said it has decided to shut down voluntarily.

Orange staff recommended NorthStar not be renewed when its current contract ends this year because student test scores and graduation rates have dropped since 2008 and the school's grade has not been better than a D.

The percentage of its students reading at grade level dropped to 26 percent last year, the school failed to provide state-required intensive reading classes, and some of its teachers did not have required state certifications, according to a letter the district sent to the school last month.

The school also paid board members, who are to be volunteers, $15,000 to help correct enrollment data, according to the letter.

As a charter school, NorthStar operates with public money but is run by a private group under a contract with the school board.

Principal Kelly Young said NorthStar serves students who "were previously overlooked" by traditional high schools. "It's a great group of kids, but they definitely struggle," she said.

The school wanted to be labeled an alternative school, meaning it would not be graded A-to-F. But it didn't feel the district would honor that request, according to a letter Young sent to the district.

"We would really be setting ourselves up for failure" by staying open, she said.

Christopher Bernier, the district's school choices principal, said he could not comment on a pending closure.

Young said staff at the small school — enrollment is about 180 — is working to help its students transfer to other campuses in August.